The Renegade
by Kaelander
Summary: A vampire story set in modern New York. Part of Stephanie Meyer's vampire world setting.
1. Massacre of Cherry Spring

_A vampire story set in modern New York. Part of Stephanie Meyer's vampire world setting._

_Disclaimer: The vampire world belongs to Stephanie Meyer_

_This is just something I wrote when I was sick one day, supposed to be two more books afterwards but I don't think I'll continue this series._

Chapter 1: The Massacre of Cherry Spring

"_Most humans think they are at __the top of the food chain – those are the survivors."_

_We were coming home. Our large car was packed with the whole family. Rolfus at the front, nicknamed Rolfy__ by his friends, driving the car at his own ridiculous speeds, was the father figure of our family. Madison was sitting next to him with her arms placed neatly on her lap, and looking attentively out the window, she to us was like a mother, and a caring figure for our own problems. Rachel and I sat behind them, both us viewing the scenery, and then the outskirts of town as we silently waited in the car for the trip to expire. Inadyn and Vorec were behind us, possibly playing a game or whispering to each other due to the boredom of the long drive. Caraos had taken his motorbike and gone ahead. He liked being ahead of the group._

_Of our family, Rachel and I were the youngest. We were both fourteen in age. Our puberty had just struck, and occasionally we got the occasional crazy idea to do something stupid. Like do a prank on an unsuspecting victim, or write offensive graffiti in public areas. Rachel had brown long hair; she occasionally tied it back into a pony tail to avoid its 'annoyance'. She was smart and always ready to something daring, but she also cared about almost anything she loved. Including me, surprisingly. Inadyn was around 23 while Vorec was 25 years old. They looked like they had just graduated from a university, and still had the energy of a party goer. The two were a couple, like Rolfus and Madison. Caraos, the motorbike rider was also 25 years old. He looked and acted more serious than the rest of the group. His smooth dark brown hair was tied into a pony tail behind him, possibly due to his lack of having a haircut. Madison never told us her age. She looked like she was around her mid thirties, but she denied any age we guessed. She always kept it a secret from everyone. Rolfus was the leader and acting father of our family. He looked old, but still energetic and charismatic. His gray hair was smoothened back and he always stood up straight. Rolfus always had the best decision and the wisest opinion. He was leader of us all for a reason._

_Our car roamed through the small streets of the innocent town of Cherry Spring. Right in the middle of Texas, in a stinking hot desert. It was a very small town, not a place most would consider a home. We had our reasons for living in a remote place._

_We stopped outside our giant house. It had to house seven people after all. It lay at the end of the main road, visible to every other house and also close to the main interest in town (the market). It was three storeys high, easily the largest in the whole area, and contained one veranda on the second level. My room was located on that level, connected to the deck and shared with Rachel. Inside the house lay a whole spiralling series of stairs, which went up two floors and down one floor. It was located in the side of the house, not in the middle like most mansions might have it placed._

_Caraos was waiting for us outside the house. His motorcycle was parked against our mailbox. The weight of the vehicle bent the little structure slightly. The car stopped, and Rolfus got out first._

"_Hey Rolfy, you remember that Crespin guy? Well, he's right inside our house right now, with a load of other people doing crap and stuff,"_

_Rolfus looked at Caraos with demeaning eyes, "Crespin?"_

"_Yeah Crespin, Crespin Ortega," Caraos looked uninterested and looked at something out in the desert._

"_Maybe he suddenly found out about our little secret, and has come to punish us." Rolfus added with humour and turned back to the car, he called us out._

"_We'll walk through the front door, and take it from there. Crespin and his lot must not escape the house. Understood?" He always had a charismatic side that took our attention every time he ordered us, or even when he was talking._

_We all nodded, except me. I wasn't ever part of these types of events._

"_Inadyn and Vorec, through the back door, they have an ambush party waiting in the kitchen. There are also some men in our stairway, but most in the hall way." He turned to us for the last information._

_Caraos looked at his small group of fighters. "Alright, let's teach this doggy who's the top dog around here."_

_Rolfus walked up the door, all of us behind him, minus Inadyn and Vorec. He pushed the door open, and turned to his left and walked casually down. His cowboy shoes thumped along the wooden floor. I could smell them now._

_Rolfus stopped, and then ran forward into a group of armed militia hiding behind the corner. His arms raked everywhere, tearing up men. Rachel ran in and her vampire teeth glistened as she pounced on a paralysed man. Caraos took to the right instead and a large growling sound was heard from the other rooms. I walked down the hall way as the fighting commenced. Screaming echoed everywhere, enough to wake up the whole town. Luckily, our house was soundproof, generally for situations like this. Blood spattered everywhere, along the walls and ceiling, our coven wasn't famous for its subtlety. Madison glided past me to join Inadyn in the kitchen._

_I looked to the left; a man raised his trembling gun at me. I smiled a reassuring smile and turned around as Vorec grabbed him from the shadows and separated the man's head from his body. I frowned deeply as I turned away. Blood dripped along the wood floor; someone would have to wash it later._

_I could hear Inadyn crashing about in the kitchen. Someone got their head smashed against the fridge, hard. _

_I sighed and walked up the stairs into my room. It was empty of humans upstairs, but the room was a mess. Crespin's men must have crashed through my room and searched for anything valuable. It was good I didn't keep many possessions or anything too valuable. That was Rachel's habit. I walked past the two beds and sat against a ruined chair. Time passed quickly as I waited._

_Occasionally, I would hear the screams of terror as a man's head or body part was dismembered, or the pleading of the surrendering. But none were to be left alive. They would talk if freed._

_Two hours passed._

_I opened the door to the deck and walked out, into the morning sun. My skin looked normal in the sunlight. Something unique for a vampire, but our whole coven had the same trait. We did not glisten like crystals in Helios star, but looked like normal humans. We did of course still have the basic teeth and dark red eyes. And the lust for blood._

_I reached the edge of the deck and looked down, I froze._

_A nun wearing black clothes and carrying a holy charity box, was walking up to the house and about to knock on the door. She was obviously oblivious to the fighting inside. With my fellow vampires in this blood crazed state, she wouldn't stand a chance. What's worse was that she might alert the rest of the waking town. She would have a chance to scream if the door was open. It all depended on how good her lungs were or how fast she could react._

_She was too close to the house; I backed away and tried to run to my family. They had to stop now, besides how long does it take to wipe out a small brigade of mobsters? They were only taking this long because they enjoyed the killing and slow painful deaths of their victims. Typical vampires._

_I was too late, the nun knocked on the door and it creaked open. Someone had left the door unlocked before the fight. A gust of wind blew the whole door blew open._

_And the nun stood shocked as right in front of her, Rolfus ripped apart the face of Crespin Ortega himself, with his own bare gigantic teeth. Rolfus smiled wolfishly with skin hanging from his mouth._

_Blood spilled and started to race along the wood floor, it formed a river in the curved surfaces._

_The nun couldn't move, she couldn't run, she was too scared. A man had just been ripped to pieces in front of her. Rolfus noticed her and tackled her outwards, towards the town. She died on the first thrashing blow._

_The wind blew into the house, and gusted into every room. All the vampires stopped eating and decimating their prey, and stood up to smell. Their frenzy faces turned to the outside world. They could smell them, the humans outside._

_The scent was so sweet, so attractive to the minds of vampires. They turned towards the door. _

"_No! Not outside!" I screamed, and flew down the stairs to the entranced vampires. They ignored me and walked into the blazing sun, and the town of humans._

_Rolfus turned back to us, outside on the front yard. He smiled, "Looks like this has gotten a bit out of control," Maybe he had the sense to go back inside, he smiled and his teeth were stained red. "I'm sorry this town has got to go, but it's what needed, we cannot change our decision." I couldn't believe it. My family was going to massacre the whole of Cherry Spring. No one would particularly miss the town, it could be easily burnt later and the world wouldn't know what happened. It was small enough to contain, and small enough to control, and feed upon. _

_But it was my family doing this. Vampires killing a whole town of innocent people. They were blood crazed, but they could still control themselves. Didn't they have any sense now? Or were they different people when it came to feeding time? I stepped back, and the rest of them ran wild, attacking everyone on the streets. My eyes darted to every one of my family separately. I could smell the humans as well; they tasted nice, but not nice enough to go crazy about. They were like a chocolate ice cream on a hot day to me. To the rest of my family, they were a bottle of cold water in the middle of a desert._

_I saw Rachel walk into a house full of children. A few other girls screamed wildly and I saw a boy attempt to climb outside of the window. A bloody arm grabbed him back in._

_When I last saw Rolfus, he had broken into the sheriff's house. He had a long rivalry and grudge against the sheriff, I guess he could now end that hatred between them. A window on the side of the house suddenly splashed with blood, and the smash of a wooden table echoed inside._

_I turned back into my own house. I couldn't live any longer with these people, these vampires. There must be other vampires out there that did not kill humans, which did not kill for pleasure, and could control themselves. Even in the state of frenzy._

_I packed my bag in my room; I only needed to survive on a few items. My family would miss me; they might even question my absence. They might even try looking for me. Especially Rachel. I trudged out onto the deck, climbed onto the railing and looked down on the scene below. Someone had already begun burning the town, and to the west Vorec was taking down anyone trying to escape by road._

_I felt a wave of depression, as I remembered my place in this family. I wasn't like other vampires; I tried not to be monster._

_I jumped, and flew into the air. I didn't fly at a high speed when in the air, it looked more like I was gliding. I preferred to take it slowly, and that way I could view the landscape below me easier. The only bad thing was that viewers from below could spot me more easily at this speed._

_I flew away from the town of Cherry Spring. Away from my family, and away from the memories there. I might have overreacted, by running away. But I doubt I could live with them, after what they had all committed. _

_I headed north; maybe somewhere where my family wouldn't find me. Somewhere they wouldn't look. Somewhere infested with humans. That is, if they even bothered to try and find me, although Rachel would probably beg to search._

_How would they react to my actions? And what would they do if they found me?_

_I wasn't going to find out anytime soon._

**4 years later**

I woke from the night dream, the dream that I had been having almost every night. Although I didn't sleep, I occasionally reached states of mind every night, where the mind focused on past events and it acted almost like dreams. I couldn't control them, and they only happened in the late of night, when I should be asleep. It was a nightmare that plagued my mind, my past and the reason that I was here. It brought back memories, memories that hurt badly. I missed them, I missed home, I missed my family, but this was not helping at all.

I knew the plot of the dream all the time. Every time it replayed, I always knew the next scene; it was something I could never forget.

Rolfus was known for gangster activity in Cherry Spring. To survive in the human world as a vampire, he created his own mob, and entered the game of the outlaws. He formed his own faction, us, and competed for money and wealth with other gangs. It gave us an alibi, a history, and an excuse to kill. Crespin was one of his rivals. There were many other gangs, and some formed alliances with us, the rest ended up dead or soon to be. Our allies were the surviving witnesses of our efficiency.

Rolfus' last meeting had been with Crespin. The two were debating about some trade route, that each competed to hold up. Crespin was an aggressive and quick-to-act man; these types of meetings weren't usually his style. In the end the meeting accomplished nothing. Rolfus got sworn at a few times, and there were even a few awkward situations with knives to the neck.

After the meeting, back at home Rolfus told us that he took out one of Crespin's men as punishment. Crespin's second in charge.

This was probably Rolfus' mistake, if he fed on the victim, he might have been seen. But even for killing one of the Crespin's men was an offence viable for ambush and murder.

If Rolfus had been caught eating a human, Crespin should have told more people, and they would have attacked in more numbers.

But since we were only ambushed by him and his men, he probably was either too stubborn to ask for help or only witnessed the murdering part.

When Crespin and his followers came to our house, it was their last decision to make.


	2. City Life

Chapter 2: City life

I sat up off my bed and walked to the large glass wall, which served as a window for me. I looked out onto the vastness of my new home. It was filled with crime, and hatred like all places, but here, if you were completely stronger than your opponent, then you should attack someone your own size. It was what my family failed to do. They attacked innocent defenceless people. Ok, sure with Crespin's men they attacked first, well really Rolfus attacked first, but they asked for a fight. The town of Cherry Spring didn't, they were just a growing society attempting to live peacefully in the middle of a harsh environment. We should have ignored them, or given them mercy. My family should have controlled themselves.

That it why I ran away.

New York is alive with people, everywhere. It isn't a place a vampire would want to stay for a long time. It was too tempting, humans everywhere, vulnerable and in reach. I figured I was the only the vampire in the city so far. No other vampire would have survived so long without a feed, and there hadn't been any major incidents involving murders that went unsolved.

I lived in an apartment, by myself. I had managed to find an abandoned apartment, and moved in comfortably. It was pretty large, but I didn't even use half of the whole thing. I only had a bed in one room, with a mirror on the wall, and a chest of clothes and other necessities under the bed. There were three other rooms. I figured one was supposed to be the kitchen and the other were extra rooms. I used to have a punching bag dangling from the ceiling of one room, but considering my vampiric traits, it didn't last long.

I spent most of my time wandering around the city. Exploring and trying to not act suspicious. Sometimes it would seem odd for a fourteen year old to be out alone in the city, but it at least was possible by human standards. I would wake up around six in the morning, walk around my suburb until lunch, and then eat human food at some random food shop, depending on my location at that time. After lunch I would decide what I would do, whether wander around a new place, visit some public place like a museum or do some activity like swimming. When I mean swimming, I mean swimming in the ocean, and possibly underwater as well. Actually most of the time it was underwater, seeing as swimming in the ocean in the winter and near a city was 'weird' for humans and a magnet for unwanted attention. I usually only swam in the winter, in the summer I wasn't the only occupant in the water.

Dinner most of the time I passed. Occasionally I would go somewhere, but at night kids didn't belong out in the city. So if I decided to eat, then I ordered something. For money, most of the time I found odd valuables and sold them or worked at a shop until they noticed any 'different' qualities about me.

Life here was great. I was lonely, and that was the only bad thing about this place. But besides that, I was living sort of like a human, and it was peaceful and interesting. I tried to hide that hole, which the memories of my family filled, but sometimes, they would come back to me. And everything we ever did, and how I became cursed as one of them would return to haunt me, and my new life.

I looked into the mirror across my room. It was just opposite the large window, and often reflected the city activity. I paced over to look at it closer. It was framed in a metallic silver framing, with leaves and vines patterned around it. In the centre was me. I was averagely tall for a teenager, broad shoulders due to my vampiric strength. I had a fair build, but nothing to boast about. My vulnerability was the mistake of anyone that threatened me, mainly vampires that is.

I had black short hair, and my face was curved slightly. I never knew my heritage, but my skin looked tanned most the time and my blood red eyes hid my true eye colour. I sifted my hand through my hair; it was silky and bended back to the previous position. I never took a shower, unless I had visible dirt over me. And for showers, I swam in a river, pond or ocean. The saltiness of the ocean was much preferred, but occasionally a bad idea for the wandering human eyes.

I flexed my arms and legs, they stretched easily. I shook my head to knock out any frustrating thoughts and turned back around. I looked at the bed, I never really used it. It mainly just served as a necessity expected if someone managed to look into my apartment when I was away. Sometimes I would lean on its softness for support, but mostly it was just a decoration.

I exited out the only door into my apartment. The hallways of the building were pretty run down. There weren't any hired cleaners to service the building, and the actual owners had most likely forgotten this property. There some other residents here, drug smugglers and other hide-aways, but they stuck to themselves. They didn't want to mess around a kid that had survived alone in the big bad city for all this time. They all knew I had a secret, and none of them wanted to find out what it was.

The elevator had never worked since I had moved in. I always used the stairs, as did the others. It was perhaps tiring for humans to walk up and down around forty floors, but not for me. Another quality which amazed the other occupants.

I had reached the bottom and wandered out into New York City. My position was a close walk to various parks and to the ocean as well. It was also close to public transport, not that I needed it.

I wandered down a familiar path towards a park. The park contained a small pond in the centre, and flocks of ducks often inhabited the area. I sat down at a bench and stared at the world around me. The trees swayed in the dawn light, and the pond sparkled with a new start to the day.

I closed my eyes and listened to the world.

A baby was crying in a house a few blocks away, recently born, I could smell the new scent of blushing blood. An old man was giving a boy a lecture in some room about bad behaviour, and two women ran down a street for a fit start to the day. It was after six in the morning, the subway beneath me arrived at this time here.

I stayed in the park until around lunchtime for the humans. I often got stares of wonder at my presence alone around here. Anything too suspicious to my safety was glared at back.

I especially got the looks on school days, but there were other homeless kids in the city as well, I wasn't the only one. Once an old lady had offered to take me to a child shelter, I refused but she insisted stubbornly. It was too bad she was old; otherwise she might have caught up to me as I ran away. The last I heard of her, was the shrieking complains of the hag as she screamed in protest. Luckily there weren't many witnesses, or anyone energetic enough to catch me back then.

It was the afternoon, the one-thirty five subway beneath me rumbled my delicate ears. It was good to have excellent hearing, but if you heard to well, then you heard too much of the wrong things. It was best to able to tune into only what you wanted to hear. Another trait of the damned.

I walked to a nearby fish and chips shop. It looked run down from the outside, and the only thing satisfying from it was the pale blue paint on the roof. The sign advertising the shop had dropped off a long time ago. The Chinese owners knew me as a popular customer, and once questioned my age and lack of a home. It was the last time they ever talked to me about something rather than food. They tended to be satisfied with the fact that I gave them business and didn't complain about anything, after their interrogation. I never ordered too much, only enough that I could manage to eat without getting too sick. I particularly liked food which didn't have any taste to it, that's why I went to this particular food shop. No one else went there, because of the food, so I was the mainly the only person giving them business to survive on.

It grew dark, and after walking around a familiar suburb I headed back to my apartment. Along the way a police car siren pounded past me, I looked back as it past me, something had happened further down the street. I could hear the bloodcurdling screams.

I reached my apartment building, the worn down walls from the outside warded off any nosy humans that liked to be adventurous. I climbed the steps slowly, up ahead I could hear a group of rogue kids talking outside their room. I heard the mention of death, and paused.

I climbed closer, not making any sounds with my footsteps.

"Are you sure he's dead?" A girl murmured in the background.

"I'm very sure, I just walked in and there was blood everywhere," A boy shuddered on the last words. He sounded like he was about to vomit.

"Do you know who did it?" Another male voice entered the conversation, his voice sounded deeper than the rest, but not deep enough to pass as an adult.

"No, he was just there, with cuts and blood, and a sword impaled through his face." I could smell the fresh scent now, the glorious smell that made vampires go wild. Blood. It was a recent kill, and the scent was just starting to flow down the building, I would have smelt it downstairs otherwise.

"Someone got John, someone got him bad,"

"But why?"

"I don't know, but we aren't safe here anymore, we have to leave," The deep voiced boy was the obvious leader of the group. The other children were his responsibility.

There some murmurs of protest and then I heard something new.

"He was only our age, why would someone want him dead so early?"

The kids were slightly older than me, excepting the girl which actually sounded younger. Someone had brutally murdered a boy like me, someone my age, killed out of cold blood. The crimes committed in this world and city had no limits. The police would be here later, someone more responsible would call them, and then it would be another case, like the screams down the street.

The run-away kids started to descend the stairs quickly. They moved at a pace so quick, it was like they felt they were being hunted right now. They raced past me, as I hid in the shadows of a corner. I would examine the scene myself. It obviously wasn't a vampire who killed the boy; the vampire wouldn't have been so careless and wouldn't have left so much blood. Besides, there were easier targets for vampires around here.

I reached the floor, it was only below mine. The kids had left the door open, I creaked inside. It was dark; the lights didn't seem to work. It must have been really spooky for the kid that saw the body first.

I didn't have far to walk. This apartment was more furnished than the rest, and in the middle of one room was a blood stained couch. On the floor was exactly what the scarred boy had described. Another boy, with a tinge of blonde hair was lying on his back, his legs ripped with metal blades and one of his arms missing. Blood stains and scars lined his body. But the most obvious part was the face. It was no longer recognisable; a long sword had been shoved right into the centre of the face. It was a gruesome sight for any humans, not something you could stare at for too long. The sword was easily a Japanese katana blade, and the handle was marked with the initials O.C. Someone was killing kids or had murdered this boy in particular to spread a message. I looked around once more; the murder had been done well, with only the floor and couch stained. The rest of the apartment was untouched. O.C would be hunted down. Hopefully soon, he left his mark for a reason.

I would leave that for the police to investigate, it was their job after all.

The police arrived late at night, around ten pm. Considering this was the time that one of my neighbour's usually went to sleep, his snoring could be heard from any place in the city. The police were pretty loud in their investigations, I guess they didn't know anyone else lived in the building, or even cared if they did.

I spent the rest of the night wandering around my expansive apartment, thinking of ideas and memories. But mostly I listened below to the police and their case.


	3. Aleah

Chapter 3: Aleah

The next day started in a typical way. A different park this time. I passed the house of the previous day screams, a police line surrounded the building, and I noticed a few civilians give remorseful looks at the house.

Lunch at the Chinese fish and chips, the male owner seemed reluctant to say something to me, but decided in the end not to. I smiled at him encouragingly as I walked out. I meant to imply, keep to yourself and I'll stay to myself.

I was sitting on a bench, on a street in a heavily populated suburb. This area was known as the most dangerous part of the city, and also known for its stereotypical display of dark alley ways. I picked at the chips; the owners had added complimentary chicken salt. It tasted disgusting.

I had just finished my meal when I heard the pleas of a young girl. It wasn't the voice of anyone I had heard or met before. But the innocent human continued to cry for help. It was almost like she was crying out to me. Her voice shrieked my head.

"No please!" Was repeated as she suffered pain continually. She was a teenager, and soon to be a victim to another murder. She wasn't dead yet though. She cried louder this time.

I fell to my knees, she was hurting me. Her screams echoed my brain, my mind and dominated my hearing. I couldn't help it. People looked at me oddly and sympathetically as they walked or drove past my struggling body. Some considered helping the poor boy in pain, but they were warned off by my seethes of agony.

I had to stop it now. I knew where she was, in a dark corridor of the city. I could help her. How?

Without revealing my secret? I could attempt to use my immortality and undeath to ward off any blows, and then just bash her tormentors up. But if I was shot or knifed, I would either have to die on the spot or go to the hospital. Neither was possible for me.

I ran anyway, towards the terror the girl was wailing about. I reached the closest alleyway to me, littered with rubbish and the occasional steel bin. I rounded a corner; she was a lot closer now.

I hurdled a giant rubbish container silently and stopped instantly as I saw the girl and the thugs. They hadn't seen me yet, they were too preoccupied with their prey. There were three of them. One was armed with a giant dagger, while the others used their fists.

Right now they were just pushing her around. She had already lost her bag to the thugs. The tall one, the one that badly needed a shave, took out his dagger; it glinted ferociously in the glimpses of light. I moved in, watching them all closely. I was going to help this girl, in the most human like way possible. I can't be seen as an immortal or supernatural boy running wild on the streets.

The dagger wielding one got close to the girl, and placed the metal blade under the girl's neck. The man closest to me was short, and not very aware of his surroundings. I paused should I kill them or just knock them unconscious?

I stuck with the unconscious choice; I didn't intend to become a killer anytime soon.

The short thug fell to the ground silently. Unfortunately it alerted the other unarmed thug. He roared something incomprehensible and charged at me. He attempted a rugby tackle but I dodged him cunningly to one side. He fell into a trash heap and stood up again a little dazed. He fell quickly back down again, with a knocking blow to the back of the head.

The last thug had turned to me. He hadn't said anything yet, his eyes observing my talents. The dagger was still close to the girl, under her chin, threatening to draw blood. I looked at the man with passive eyes, intimidating for someone in such a life threatening position..

My opponent let the girl go. She fell into a heap on the ground. She was still alive; I could hear her pulse beating. It was pacing swiftly, but at least still beating.

The man walked closer to me, stopped and raised his knife. He obviously intended to throw it at me. He failed miserably. The small blade flew past me and struck a brick wall, creating a quick screeching sound and then falling to the ground.

I moved forward, and punched the man in the chest. He was too tall for a slow punch to the head. It must have felt like being whacked by a giant metal bar. He fell short of breath and collapsed with a broken ribcage to the ground.

Wait, punching a human so softly and then breaking their bones wasn't normal for humans. Especially when you're just a quiet teenager in this world.

The girl was now staring at me. She was probably expecting me to finish her off. I tried to act innocent, it didn't work too well.

"Are….are you alright?"

She stared at me blankly. Could she speak English?

I walked towards her. She didn't move. But when I got within grabbing distance, she sat up against a wall behind her, her eyes never left mine.

"What are you?" Is all she said. Oh crap, maybe it was the bloodshot eyes?

"What?" I had to make her look like the odd one out.

"What are you?" She repeated.

"Umm…what are you?" The 'umm' bit ruined my appropriate confidence.

"My name is Aleah,"

"A-lear? What kind of name is that?" Maybe I could distract her.

"A very nice name," she crossed defensively, "and it's pronounced Aleah."

"Alright…" I added a sarcastic tone to the end, to make the word sound like I was teasing her in a way.

"What is your name?"

"Lucius," I said warily, did it really matter if she knew my name?

"That's an odd name, like an evil character off a book," Damn Harry Potter and his influence.

"Yeah, well it's an old name, not something you would expect these days," The girl was starting to become more comfortable around me. It at least distracted her from her first question. I realised then that I had all the time in the world to talk, but she didn't.

"Hey look, let's get you up," I lifted her up with ease; her skin was exceptionally warm, I doubted mine felt that way, "Is there somewhere you need to go?" I needed her away from this place.

"Yeah I was on my way to school," she looked at my eyes directly; she was pretty scary for someone I had just saved.

"But maybe I'll just go back home," she added quickly. She seemed entranced for a moment at my dark face. It was like she was staring through the window of a shop that awed her, and was something she couldn't afford.

"How did you end up here?"

"I didn't, I was dragged in by those guys," Aleah eyed the men I had disposed of.

"Well alright, can you handle it from here?" I tried to sound encouraging, although I didn't have any schedules or anything, I didn't intend to spend too much time with this girl.

"Sure, I guess," she paused and looked up, "thanks for saving me," she grinned. "You're like a superhero, coming out of nowhere and saving people."

"Your welcome," Was all I said, I needed to act modest.

"Which school do you go to?"

Quick, I needed to make up a school. I didn't personally know many of the schools in the area. I could read Aleah's uniform tag, but she would know if I went to her school or not. Maybe if I told her I was a renegade on the streets it would explain enough.

"I don't have a school."

She looked at me as if she understood.

"Oh ok, well I'll see you around then," she reached up and kissed my cheek. "That's for saving me."

Must have stung her like hell when she touched me, I must be freezing and with her sweat it wouldn't be a pleasant touch.

But she didn't look any different.

"I'll see you around." She smiled and turned away.

Aleah walked out into the bright sunny day, out of the shadows of the alley way. It was then that I clearly looked at her. She had long black hair which was tinted to be almost brown. Her smooth face is what grabbed most of my attention, then her height. She was average for our age, but still shorter than me. I looked away, that was something you shouldn't stare at for too long in public.

I looked back at the thugs. I noticed suddenly the dagger the third man had used. It was lying on top of a plastic bag, with torn paper dumped around it.

On the handle were the initials O.C.

I headed off, that was enough excitement for one day.

Later that night I thought over my experiences. The way I tackled the three thugs, the initials of the dagger, Aleah herself, and then the kiss she gave me. I hadn't realised she had actually kissed me, until I was far away. I also remembered that I was smiling all that time. Something I couldn't control or notice back then. It was an odd experience; it felt like it was filling up a hole in my life.

My lonely life.

But she was a human, and I was a vampire. Her even knowing me too well was a threat to her life and mine. I didn't know her well, yet. And I concluded that I wouldn't intentionally try to meet her again. Deep down I hoped that some force of fate would bring us together again. Maybe I could save her again, and be the hero again. Maybe.

I lay down on my bed, resting my head on the pillow. I hadn't touched the pillow in a long time.

A past memory flooded back in. Something that reminded me of what I had lost.

_Rachel climbed up the hill beside me. The orange sunset was best seen from this position. The only higher point around here was our house, and we didn't want to go back there. Not with Madison and her__ current bad mood. And besides, we wanted some privacy._

"_It's bright," Rachel muttered, as she sat down next to me. The sun looked like it was melting in a way; it reflected along the desert, turning it orange was well. The shadows of trees and cactuses were more visible now. It was indeed bright, something that rarely happened everyday._

_Rachel looked at me, and didn't move. My face was turned elsewhere, but I knew she was staring. _

_The sunset always seemed to make people look different in its light. A mixture of the overcoming darkness and the diminishing light of a star. I turned to face Rachel; she was looking at me, but not at my face. She was looking at me, like she was watching my mind, my life. She smiled, and didn't turn away from the awkwardness._

_I smiled back and turned to watch the sun again. I could see the moving shadows of birds in the distance. Rachel was still looking at me._

_I felt a warm hand touch mine, which was gripping the earth for balance. Rachel wanted something, I sighed._

"_Yes Rachel?" She gripped my hand tighter._

"_What's with the apathetic tone?" She finally added expression to her face, rather than the blank stares. Light bounced off her face, she looked even more beautiful in the haze of twilight._

"_I'm not being apathetic," I defended myself. She really wanted something from me._

_She turned her sitting position to face me. _

"_What are you thinking about?"_

"_I can't think with you around," I grinned teasingly._

"_You're too quiet,"_

"_I'm enjoying the moment,"_

_She cocked her head at me in wonder. Then she crawled forward, closing the distance between us. Her hand was always grasped around mine, she wasn't letting go anytime soon._

_She sat up with her knees so she was taller than me, and paused to examine me for another time._

"_What are you thinking about?" I returned the question._

_She smiled; I knew the answer to that question. With her free hand she pushed me back to lie on the ground. _

_Rachel__ climbed on top and embraced her vampire mate._

_The sun departed and was replaced by a new moon. From our hill, in the middle of the desert, we stayed all night._

"_I love you,"__ she whispered._


	4. The Bloody Death of Osvaldo Cruz

Chapter 4: The Bloody Death of Osvaldo Cruz

The next two days went without anything too amazing. The environment of a desert was a big difference to the urban jungle of the city. In the desert, there was no one around, in the city there were too many people around.

It was on the third day that I saw Aleah again. She was with her parents, and it was a Saturday, most families had come to the city for recreation.

I was standing on the top of a short grey building. Well short compared to the skyscrapers nearby. It was maybe ten floors high at the most. It would be too odd to stand on the top of those other gigantic buildings, no matter how attractive the aspect sounded.

From my point, I studied the activity below. And so I saw her. She was wearing common clothes, instead of her school uniform this time. Her hair was also tied back into a pony tail, rather than the loose natural hair style.

It was a pretty big crowd down there, I highly doubt anyone would take the initiative to look up and see me. Besides if they did, what could they do? I didn't particularly want anyone to see me anyway; I was wearing completely black clothes, something I needed to camouflage in the shadows properly.

Aleah was now standing in the centre of a plaza, separated from her parents. She looked like she was searching for something, maybe she was looking for me. I shivered at the thought, she probably was.

I cringed back when she looked up, in the wrong direction. My direction. She looked closely and noticed me backing away. A large smile grew on her face and she jogged towards my building.

"She must be psychic," I muttered and ran to the opposite end of the building. I looked down, too many people; a human would die if they fell from this height. There was only one other exit down, and that was through the stairs. The stairs that Aleah was using to come up.

I cursed to myself. Why was I running? Because I can't get attached to a human, that's why. My mind debated over my options.

The door to the stairs rushed open and Aleah walked through, cool air from the conditioning inside followed her out. She looked exhausted, had she been running?

"Hello," she avoided saying my name. Aleah walked closer to me, her eyes looked cautious but still wide and happy. She stopped within arms reach of me.

"Hi," was all I managed when she stopped moving. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be the one asking you that question,"

I sighed. "I'm here because it's safer here,"

"What, it's too dangerous in the public?" Her smile vanished.

"I guess, in a way," I tried to make Aleah smile again. Aleah looked up at the bright sky, and then glanced back at me.

"What are you?" Not this question again.

"What?"

"What are you?"

I looked at her with a weird look; maybe this girl could read my mind. "What are you?" I asked back to her.

She looked at me with an odd smile. "I already answered that question."

There was silence then. I looked away as if I was interested in another building. This was an odd spot for a conversation. On top of a tall building with people crowded around below. It was also an odd reunion. Aleah continued to look at me.

"So…" she broke the silence quickly, "What have you been up to?"

"Nothing much, just hanging around, you?"

"Oh the usual, school and family stuff," She glanced away on the word school. "Do you have a family?"

I tried to stay calm. It wasn't something I was expecting to be asked. Family was term which I tried to hide.

"I used to have a family…" I made it sound like that was all I was saying.

"Oh alright." She took the hint.

We were silent again. Perhaps it was my turn to ask her a question. I opened my mouth to say something, when suddenly gun shots pierced our ears. Five shots exactly were shot, a human would have said a few, but only the gunman and I knew how many bullets exactly were fired.

Aleah and I fell to the ground instinctively. We crouched down and stared at each other puzzled and terrified.

"Where did it come from?" she whispered. I pointed back down to the plaza, where she had been before.

Aleah went pale, her family was down there. As far as I saw, she only had a mother and a father, but other siblings might be present as well.

I crawled to the edge and looked down. Aleah followed behind me, attempting to crouch as low as possible.

People were all hiding and taking cover in the plaza. Most had stuck to just staying still on the spot, a moving target was sure to grab attention. Next to a bulky white van was a heavily armed man holding a gun up high, pointed at the sky. He wore a bullet-proof vest, and a number of extra guns. The first gun shots were a warning, or a signal. The man hadn't actually shot anyone yet.

I surveyed the scene below and then noticed a group of more armed men run into the building the van was parked near by.

"What is that building?" I asked Aleah. She was frantically searching for any sign of her parents below.

"It's a bank I think," The building was small, but long. It could have easily been assumed as a department store. "But apparently it holds artefacts as well. It's supposed to be heavily guarded inside."

Police arrived on the scene. The first policewomen that got out fell dead on the spot. There were snipers around. The other policeman stayed in the car, and waited for reinforcements, calling repeatedly into his phone. It would a while before more police came, and there looked like there were more thugs in other areas of the plaza.

"Lucius!" Aleah hissed my name.

I turned to face her, she was shaking from fear. I gave her a questioning look.

"Do something!"

"What!?"

"Do something! Someone might get hurt." Gunshots were fired inside the building. More police arrived and a gun fight took place between more marauders around the corner. The crossfire was too close to the civilians.

"Why?"

She stared at me her like I had said something ridiculous. I didn't think it was. "Because you're the hero."

"Saving people isn't my usual occupation,"

"So I guess saving me was just an accident then,"

My fist gripped tightly on the concrete. Who did this girl think I was? I wasn't some heroic superhuman saving people everyday. I just happened to hear her screams more openly than others, and couldn't resist the urge to save her. This event was entirely different.

"Lucius, you need to do something,"

"I can't, there's too many, and they have guns." I won't die from a bullet, but a human would and should. "And besides it isn't exactly a common thing for a teenage boy to run in and bash up some heavily armed criminals."

"You could just do it inside the building, where the public can't see you,"

"How do I get past that guy?" I pointed at the man who had fired the first bullets. He stood guard outside the entrance to the bank.

"You need a distraction,"

"And I guess your miraculously going to give me one," I rolled my eyes.

She glared at me. She was serious.

"Wait for the police to fire on that guy, and then run in and do what you usually do."

It made sense in a way, more to me than her I guessed. If I was inside then the only thing that could be witnessed from the outside was the screaming. I wouldn't kill the thugs, unless I was put in a situation where I was forced to. Aleah had this odd effect on me, like I was commanded to do anything she said; she had a devoting aura around me.

But the less blood the better, I wouldn't kill.

A squad of police arrived within shooting distance to the solitary guard; they fired upon the one man.

"For an innocent human, you sure can think like a soldier," I smiled at her. Then froze, what had I just said? A cold breeze shivered down my spine.

Aleah stared at me with her jaw open. I had just confirmed her suspiciousness.

"What are you then?" She whispered.

I didn't answer, I ran. To the edge of the building and then over. I caught a railing on my way down; any witnesses including Aleah would have expected death if I fell all the way down.

I raced across the open plaza, along the hard sunbaked concrete. Human civilians stared at me with shock as I passed them. I was either crazy or brave. Courage could very well be insanity though.

The hostile guard was firing at the police now; he didn't notice the boy run past him. He didn't notice that I took one of his many daggers along the way. He didn't notice the stares of apprehension from the police as they saw a rebel kid attempt to be a bravado without them.

I moved into the building. The furniture had all been turned over, with bullet holes punctured all over them. Probably been used as shields. The counters were all nearly smashed, lights flickered above me.

A stack of documents were being burned in a pile by a small flame, and a few murdered bodies were lying around in crumpled positions. I followed the destruction to its source.

There were about ten of them. All armed with rifles or shotguns. One of them carried a Japanese sword by his waist. They all stood surrounding a man in a suit. The man had his hands on his head, and looked completely freaked out. He was probably the owner of the building or bank organisation.

In front of the humans was a giant metal door, something that looked like it needed a code to enter. The purpose for the man to still be alive.

"Tell us the number now," The sword wielding one bent down and looked at the terrified man. He had gelled his black hair back, an Italian look to his face. I hesitated to help, I couldn't kill or even harm with the bank man as a witness.

The man mumbled something, he had surrendered. The sword thug, who looked like the leader of the group smiled and unsheathed his sword.

A slice echoed the metallic room and blood splattered onto the clothes of the thugs. A few of his henchmen winced at the scene.

The murdered man's head rolled and stopped against a wall, his same scared look still printed on his face.

The leader walked over to the door and started to enter a number in to a console. Now was my moment to act, no witnesses alive.

I flew into a blur, my lips curled back to expose sharp inhumane teeth and from a small vulnerable teenager; I was the monster from a mythical nightmare. None of them expected my attack. They didn't even know who or what was attacking them.

I smashed the heads of the two men closest to me. I had before planned no blood, but they were cold murders and thieves. And if they survived, they would babble about a crazy boy that beat them to a pulp. I was turning into Rolfus.

The surviving eight drew the weapons and fired in different directions. I was too fast for them to aim in one point.

I threw my dagger at one, and his life faded away as the blade struck his beating heart. I ripped another by the throat, and the rest were killed in a brutal manner. There were two men left now. The leader and another man who had managed to survive to this point. The leader drew his sword and slashed wildly at me. I dodged his blows and stabs, jumped high and clawed his head from above with one strike of the deadly hand. He fell to the ground in his screams of agony. Three large slashes were scarred down his face, passing through his two eyes and nose. I turned to the last man; he was lying on the ground, wounded from one of my previous attacks.

I walked to him, and bent down. I gripped his collar and held him up. He choked on blood and pain.

"Who sent you?"

He didn't respond, his eyes were faced towards the ceiling, but he was still alive. I could tell if he was dead or not.

"Who do you work for?"

The man looked at me, and spat blood on my face. With my free arm I wiped the attractive substance off me and returned a fiery glare.

"The Cruz Clan," he said, with a hint of pride in the name. He couldn't keep his eyes on my face for too long.

"Who is your leader?"

"Osvaldo Cruz," He smiled, and then frowned and his eyes trailed somewhere else. I frowned and then looked somewhere else as well. O.C, the child killer, was Osvaldo Cruz, this man must be powerful, a king of the criminal underworld. From killing young kids to robbing high-security banks, he must be brutal man.

"Where can I find Cruz?" My victim's eyes returned to me for a second.

"You can't, he's dead."

I let go of the man, he fell back down and hit the floor hard. He gasped in pain.

"When?"

"You killed him," he reached his head up towards a body in the room. I turned to what he was looking at. The man with the sword. He was Osvaldo Cruz, the criminal leader.

"That's Osvaldo Cruz?" I couldn't believe I had just killed a criminal warlord.

The man just nodded, then his eyes flittered a bit, and stopped moving forever. I smelt the breath of life flow out of his body slowly.

I walked to the corpse of Cruz. His weapon bore the initials O.C as well, except this time it was written in gold italic lettering.

I picked up Cruz's katana. He wouldn't need it anymore. Where he got these Japanese swords was a mystery.

Why did Cruz kill children though? And why did he need to break into this bank? I stared at the metallic door that remained shut. I didn't need to know, I satisfied myself with the fact that Cruz was dead.

I walked slowly out of the room, with my new weapon as a token reminder of this event. Outside, a battle still wore on, but it would end soon, the thugs outside would be outnumbered soon, and their leader was now dead.

The main shock would be the scene inside the building. No one would know how the bodies were killed, who killed them and how they were killed. Maybe some of the people that had seen me run into the building would suspect me, but they would assume that I wasn't that type, just an idiot kid that tried to be brave and stupid. Probably lost amongst the wreckage.

Only Aleah would know that it was me. She would hear what happened inside, the bloody remains of the bodies, she would watch it all on the news. She would think differently about me, and what's more, she knows I'm not human.

I hope I never saw her again. I hope she also felt that way. Who would want to meet a killer? An alien killer?

I ran through the shadows of the buildings, it was evening, and my black clothing provided extra camouflage behind the building.

The only thing wearing me down was the sword, I didn't have a cover for it and so I had to be careful as I carried it. I eventually reached my apartment, raced into my room and slammed the door. I threw the sword onto the floor with a loud clang and sat down near the wall. I was shaking, something was wrong.

I realised then, that I was a murderer. I had never killed before, even as a vampire. Yet I had killed those men without a second thought. Like it was something natural.

And what's worse, I enjoyed it. The satisfying amusement as I killed helpless living beings, and the screams of mercy, mercy they never received.

I was turning into my family. Even without them, I was still being affected by them.


	5. Hunted

Chapter 5: Hunted

"_Your blade is as much dangerous to you as your opponent,"_

_Our family was on a holiday in the Caribbean. Rolfus had taken the initiative to run away somewhere more "alive" in the summer, and picked some island I couldn't remember the name of. He had two reasons for this; one he had friends here who were also vampires. Apparently a surviving group of a newborn army. The second reason was that his friends needed some help and a teacher to teach them how to survive. Survive in this cruel world._

_Right now Vorec was teaching three of the newborn vampires how to use a sword. The vampires were all in their late teens, two boys and one girl. Each had eager faces, to kill, and to fight._

_Although they didn't have any threats to their lives yet, Rolfus expected some trouble in the future for these newborns. The leader of the newborns was Rolfus' best friend outside of the family, and the one that had summoned our family here._

_The three newborns started striking the swords onto wooden targets. They were all helpless except for the girl, who moved with grace and agility._

_I stared at her, and her speed. She seemed skilled with a blade, something not common in our modern world._

_Rachel sat down near me. We were sitting on a cold stone bench near the fighters, who were in a centre arena. _

_She waved her hand in front of my face and cleared her throat to grab my attention. I lost all focus on the to-be vampire warriors and their lessons._

"_Hello, anybody there? A girl here needs a bit of attention," I turned to face her, with an annoyed look on my face. She laughed at my grumpiness._

_She then grabbed my hand and forced me to follow her up some stairs. We reached the roof; the whole building was made out of sandstone. From the top we could see the ocean, and other islands nearby. In the bright day, it was a wondrous sight._

_Rachel smiled at the scene then snuggled her head into my chest. She always felt comfortable there, even when I didn't. _

_She made me smile, all the time._

_I heard the sound of clanging metal. I spun around to see the two boys duelling each other. Vorec had allowed them to fight, and they had charged into each other, completely ignoring the lessons they had just been taught._

_Yet they tried hard to fight well, probably trying to impress the other newborn girl._

_The fight moved up the stairs, the warriors oblivious to their surroundings walked up to the roof near Rachel and me. Their crystal bodies glistened in the sun, their common vampire trait which they managed to keep unfortunately. Rachel turned as well to look at the two boys. She rolled her eyes, and smiled at me. By looks, we were younger than the boys, but by vampire years we were way older than them. Them to us were new puppies in an old dog family._

_The two swung their blades at each other, most strikes completely missing their targets. Yet their footwork seemed to keep them standing so far. _

_Rachel frowned at them; she never liked fighting with weapons. Only unarmed combat was her type. _

_When they got too close to us, Rachel got annoyed and stuck out her leg behind one newborn as he walked backwards._

_He fell backwards as he tripped over. He made a large crunching sound as he hit the sandstone roof. Along the way, he also had accidentally kicked his opponent, knocking him off balance and sending him to the floor as well._

_Both vampires lay on the ground dazed. They probably didn't know what had just happened._

_Rachel and I couldn't stop laughing. Vorec also appeared on the scene and started to chuckle as well._

"_You two have much to learn, it's lucky that Rolfus brought us here,"_

_The newborn girl appeared behind Vorec and looked at Rachel with an appraising look. It looked like a small child looking up to her hero. Even if the newborn was taller than Rachel._

Vorec was the best fencer in our family. Even though he was talented with a sword, he never really used a blade in actual combat. Like the rest of my family, when a serious fight was needed, they all resorted to using their bare hands and teeth.

I skimmed my hand along the sharp surface of the sword. It was sharp, sharp enough to cut a vampire. Not enough to kill one of course, but enough to disable or immobilize one. You would need fire to completely kill a vampire.

A burning sword, now that's an idea.

I decided to spend the rest of the night to create a sheath for the sword, and find a way to carry it easily around.

In the end I stuck with hanging it on my back, that way I could easily run and fly with it strapped on. I was turning into a superhero, it seemed like a ridiculous idea at first, but still attractive. It was originally Aleah's idea. I had my weapon, my supernatural powers and a black costume like the deepest night.

I shook my head, morning light shined between the buildings towards my apartment. Supernatural heroes were something in comic books or movies. So were vampires I added.

I walked over to my window, and stared down at the waking streets below. What was I turning into? I had tasted a small taste of bloodshed, and now, I was ready for more.

I heard someone say my name continually. That someone was at the base of my building. It was perhaps by fate that had brought her to this exact point, where I lived. But I wasn't taking any chances.

Aleah was looking for me, and considering her luck and talents, she would find me again. She would interrogate me, something I could do without. It had only been one day since I had last seen her, and she was already hunting me again.

I grabbed my sword, slung it around my back and ran out of the room. Down the hallway to the stairs, but up, not down. If I went down there was only one exit out. She would instantly see me and stop me.

I could still hear her down on the streets. She was continually saying my name.

"Lucius, where are you?" she sounded like she was pleading. This was getting too freaky for me; this girl seemed to appear at the wrong places at the wrong time. Almost like she was hunting me. And for some reason my ears seemed to catch her voice more easily than others, to a point where that's all I can hear, her sweet voice.

I burst out into the sunlight. My black clothes absorbed the ray's heat. I was on top of my building; it was one of the tallest in the close vicinity. Taller ones were visible over in Manhattan, across the water. Now I had a choice, either fly out of here or jump buildings. Either one would be sure to attract viewers, so I had to do it quick, so they wouldn't recognise me.

If I flew I could go really high in the air, so I looked like a bird. A raven considering my clothes and hair.

I sprinted towards the edge and jumped, a force defying gravity dragged my upwards. Towards the blazing sun, and away from the grey ground.

"I didn't know you could fly,"

I was shocked and starting to panic. She saw me escaping, and her voice was the only thing I could hear. I had to run, had to escape. I kept increasing in altitude, but I knew eventually I would have to travel horizontally, there were aeroplanes around.

"You aren't getting away," her voice sounded awed but determined. What day was it? Sunday? Damn, she doesn't have school to go to.

How does Aleah intend to catch a flying vampire?

Even if I had to land eventually, she couldn't catch my speed in the city. She was a small girl in the big city; she was limited to her possible actions.

Aleah hailed a taxi and ordered to head north, the way I apparently was going. I glided slowly down; my head felt a bit dizzy and I needed to land. I headed to a park near my favourite food shop.

I landed on top of a skyscraper nearby; I can't land down at the bottom there with too many people. I rushed into the building and raced down the stairs, it was empty probably due to the time of the day. It was now around eight in the morning, more people would be arriving, more witnesses to anything supernatural occurring.

"Where are you?" her voice sung like a lullaby. "Stop at that park, thanks for the ride," she payed the driver her fare and exited the car. She walked to the centre of the park and sat down on my usual bench.

She had most my track, so she's going to wait until I returned. Aleah occupied herself with the water feature in the middle.

If I left the building, by air or foot, she would see me. And by her determination she would probably tackle me to the ground.

I would face this girl, this human, she wanted to find me, and I'll give her what she wanted. I walked out; the sun was unusually hot today. I did not look too comfortable in these clothes to a human. She was still looking at the pond. I walked next up to Aleah and stood behind her bench. I wasn't sure she knew I was there. If she was human, she shouldn't.

"What are you?" I asked her.

Aleah turned around and smiled at me. "I'm a human, a stubborn human perhaps. But I'm still only a human."

"A very stubborn human," She laughed as I insulted her. She then stood up and walked towards me.

Her eyes looked down and then observed my body from bottom to top.

"You look like an assassin," Her face glowered at me. I looked at my clothes; I was wearing black all over, clothes that looked like a commando. And I had the sword on my back. I must be a terrifying sight.

I didn't respond back. She waited a bit, expecting a response. Then stared at my serious face. Her smile disappeared.

"Lucius, what are you?"

"I can't tell you that,"

"Yes you can, you can tell me. You are not a human being."

I stepped back from her confident statement, and Aleah stepped forward.

"I'm too dangerous,"

"I know what happened back at the bank incident. I heard on the news exactly what happened to those men. Most of them weren't killed by a weapon, and one of them was the criminal leader himself," she paused to see if I had any comments, "You killed those men, in a way which is impossible for humans, and you even flew here. How do you explain that?"

"I know you're not human," She walked forward and placed her hand on my chest, "So what are you?"

I glanced around. Aleah would not stop until she got an answer. She for some reason she cared about the stranger that saved her. The stranger that wasn't human. She wasn't scared, she was interested. The park and nearby streets were empty except for us. I looked back at Aleah, her eyes staring at me hard, penetrating me hard.

"Vampire," I whispered.

She cocked her head sideways, "Be serious," I didn't respond and instead hung my head.

She stepped back away, "You can't be a vampire, vampires, vampires suck people's blood and can't go out in the day, and turn into bats," she sounded desperate. This wasn't an answer she was expecting.

"Well I guess I'm a special vampire, I don't feed on humans as most other vampires might. It's the reason I left my family – they massacred a whole town. And as for the sun, that's only a myth, most vampires though turn into crystal figures when they stand in the sun, but me, for some reason I look normal when light shines on me. And why would I need to turn into a bat if I can fly instead?" I stopped; Aleah didn't like what she was hearing. "You don't believe me."

"Actually I do, although you do look a lot different to what a vampire should look like." she was looking at me differently now. Her thoughts on my whole existence changed entirely.

"Then you must be crazy,"

"I figured I was insane when I met someone like you,"

Silence.

"What are you going to do now?"

Aleah smiled, "Well I guess I can't tell anyone, no one would believe me, and besides I don't have much proof of it yet."

I grimaced, let's keep it that way.

"What about you?"

"I don't know; just continue living in the shadows, living as a vampire. What I was doing before."

"Are you going to be the hero again?"

"I doubt it," This is what I got for saving someone, a deranged girl that hunts me down and then learns I'm a vampire.

"Do you have a home?" She changed the subject, to something more, realistic.

"Yes," Are you going there? No.

"Can I visit it?"

"No."

She looked offended, "Why not?"

"It's not something you would regard as a home,"

"Is it underground? In the sewers?" she whispered.

"No, I find it too smelly down there," I smiled at her assumptions.

"Is it in the city though?"

"Yep,"

"Then why can't I go there?"

"It's not particularly safe,"

"I don't care," Her words took me by surprise. I gave her a questioning look and stared at her beautiful face. Beautiful, what is she doing to my head?

"What? You don't care if it's dangerous?" I made her sound like she was crazy for a moment.

"Nope,"

"You're crazy."

"That's not the first time you've told me that,"

I sighed, I can't argue against this girl. She is way too stubborn for me.

"Alright, I'll take you there."

"Yay!" She jumped on me and hugged me tightly as if she had won the lottery. I wasn't going to enjoy this.


	6. Home

Chapter 6: Home

"Is this it?"

"I told you it wasn't anything special."

Aleah walked out of what was supposed to be the kitchen and faced me. She had a disappointed look on her. What did she expect? A bunch of coffins and dead bodies?

"It's just a bunch of empty rooms, except for that bed." She pointed at the bed that I never really used.

"I don't need much to survive on."

"Maybe you should leave your sword here." She looked at the weapon on my back.

"Why?"

"Because you don't want to have too many stares where we're going," she then added, "Also you need more, normal clothes. It's not like you work for the army or something." She stopped, "Do you?"

I smiled at her, "No, I don't."

Aleah took out some clothes from under my bed, and sorted through them. I was going to have human scent all over my clothes now. She picked out a few random pieces and threw them at me.

I stared at her like she was mad. She returned the glares.

"Well? Put them on!"

I trudged off into another room. She had given me jeans, a red shirt, and a derro brown jacket. Not my style.

I walked back into my main room, Aleah was unfortunately still there. She smiled at my new clothes and then grabbed my hand.

She didn't let go of it until we were at our next destination. Her home.

Aleah didn't live very far from me, and with her family she lived in a townhouse. It was at least bigger than my apartment; it had to house four people though. Aleah apparently had a younger brother.

Her house was empty when we got there.

"My family went out for a day trip," she explained, "I faked I was sick and then snuck out."

"To find me," I finished for her.

Her house was well furnished on the inside; her family could very well be wealthy. After guiding me from the kitchen, to the bathroom, to her parent's room and then her brother's room, we eventually reached her own room. It wasn't what I expected, and I expected a typical teenage girl room with pink walls, fluffy animals and posters of their favourite celebrity. Instead, Aleah's room was blank, white walls, a bookcase full of fictional books and a bed with a table next to it for study.

"Is this all?" I teased.

"Well, I don't need much in my room to survive," She smiled, "So yeah, that's my house."

My eyes trailed around the room, observing every tiny feature. I didn't notice Aleah staring at me, or notice as she moved closer to me.

My eyes darted back to her, as she proceeded towards me. A preoccupied look on her face.

"Aleah, are you alright?" She nodded and then stroked my hand with hers. She toyed with my hand then clasped hers around it; with her other she slid it around my back. She wouldn't. Her face looked up, at my lips. She wasn't. Aleah reached up, and for a moment she entranced me, I let her go. Her cool lips touched mine, and wouldn't let go of them. Her hand on my back instead held the back of my head closer. My head was pounding, what is happening to me?

Aleah took a moment to breath, after a few minutes of kissing. I then took control, and stepped back. Aleah looked at me, shocked, and hurt.

"When you said you had a family…was there a girl?" I knew what she meant.

"My family is long gone."

She nodded and then stepped forward. I stepped backwards and hit a wall behind me.

"Aleah, this isn't right. We're different species."

"I don't care. You don't look different." Apart from the fangs and eyes?

"Apathy isn't a good thing."

Aleah stopped stepping towards me. Her face looked pained, like I was restricting her from something she needed to survive.

"I want you."

"You can't have me,"

"You can't tell me what I can and can't have." Her stubbornness was still here.

"Yes I can, especially if it's me that you want."

Aleah looked like she was about to cry. I glanced at the door, I knew my way around the house, and I could try to escape. She noticed my glance.

"If you run, I'm going to hunt you down. I know where you live."

Her voice sounded dreadful, hadn't she ever had a crush before?

I slowly walked towards the door, my eyes on her, and hers on mine. I pushed backwards at the door and left the room. When she was out of sight I sprinted down the hallway, out onto the street. I heard a scream of frustration inside.

I raced and half flew back to my home. That wasn't the end of her, she wasn't lying, she's going to try and find me again. And next time, she won't let me escape.

That's what happens when you act as the hero, you get unwanted fans.

It was dark when I got back to my apartment. Only the shimmers of the bright lights from the large buildings provided light in this evening. The moon was hidden away this night.

I reached my room, and stood outside. I hesitated going in. Something felt wrong. There was someone inside. Someone who wasn't human.

I crept inside, not making a sound as I passed through the pitch black room. Light from the outside world showered into the room, revealing the shadows inside.

Sitting on my bed was a man. In his arms he cradled my sword, unsheathed. It was like an artefact to him, something unique.

He held up the sword and inspected its reflection in the dim light. He acted like he didn't know I was here, but he could easily detect my presence.

I walked closer to him. He put down the sword on the bed and stood up. Still faced towards the nightlife outside the window.

"That's a nice weapon you have there. Those initials wouldn't happen to belong to Cruz would they? The man who was brutally killed last week?" Caraos was always a man who was up to date with his news.

The vampire turned around to face me. He looked exactly the same, when I had last seen him. Nothing was different.

He took a few steps toward me.

"Lucius, why did you leave?"

"You know why I left."

Caraos paused. He was trying to put together some words in the right way.

"Why are you here?" I asked him first.

"To look for you," He smiled, it was an obvious question.

"How did you find me here?"

"It wasn't easy, especially since you hid in a city full of humans. But eventually I heard of the killing in the Eastwood Bank, and justified that it must a vampire who did all that." He looked at me as if I had just been praised.

"I searched the whole city, until I found a room that had been used continually everyday, but had no human scent on it. Even if it wasn't you, I would at least find another vampire, who could possibly help me." He finished his very short tale.

"Who sent you to find me?"

"Mainly Rachel, Rolfus said he missed you too, the others were a little morbid without you, and I of course mourned you for a bit. Our family was incomplete without you, and no other vampire would replace you." He stopped to think, "Rachel missed you the most. She cried days on end for you, most of us couldn't stand it. At one point Rolfus got angry at you and vowed to hunt you down, he was just overreacting though, I think. But you hurt her Lucius, she loved you, and you left her."

I stared at his words. He was telling me of what had occurred to my family in my absence. They were haunted by their memories of me, as I of them. And Rachel was depressed without me there, Rachel, not her.

"So they sent you to find me."

"Yeah pretty much, well actually we split into two groups and went in different directions. Rolfus' group went to like Russia or somewhere, while Rachel, Inadyn and I eventually came here."

"Rachel…is here?"

"Close to here, I'm supposed to report back soon. I guess now I got something to show them all." He grinned at me. I didn't return the grin, instead I stepped back. His smile faded, and he looked serious and a little surprised.

"Don't you want to come back to the family?"

"If I wanted to come back, I would have gone home. Or what remained of It." my voice sounded rough, and a little aggressive.

"True, I suppose." Caraos rolled his eyes a little and considered something at my argument.

"I'm not going back,"

Caraos looked at me sternly.

"Alright Lucius, I won't force you to come back. Seeing what you did to those bank robbers I don't really want to fight you. You're different now... But I still have to tell her that I found you. And Rolfus will find out as well. They'll all come here and persuade you to come back. And I doubt Rachel will be so reluctant to let go of you, once she sees you again." He started for the door and turned back.

"Good luck Lucius, fellow vampire."

He vanished into the dark haze.

I walked to my bed and lay down on the soft mattress. My family was here, and they had found me. They would all be quick to arrive, even if half of them were in Russia. Caraos was right; they won't all be as passive and docile as he was. And I will have to stare into all their faces, their faces that had been hurt and lost by me.

Rachel is going to kill me, or imprison me.

My brain turned into my meditative state again. It wasn't sleep; it was more like hibernation whilst I'm still technically awake. Images floated around my head, dreams that told me stories I already knew.


	7. Reunion

Chapter 7: Reunion

My dream replayed itself. The event that made me leave in the first place. The massacre of Cherry Spring.

But after the massacre, I had a new dream. It was peaceful, and glistening, I was lying on a beach. The soft waves washed onto me, the warm currents flushed my bare skin.

I was human.

I was vulnerable, I was alive and I was one of them. Tears flowed away, and formed a river as it reached the ocean bay. I looked into the ocean, at my mirrored reflection. I was younger than fourteen, I was a younger boy. And I was growing still. A cold breeze flowed through my shivering and my precious body.

Then a warm hand touched my cold watery body. It stroked my face. I couldn't see the hand, but I could feel it. It was welcoming, someone familiar, and someone who loved me.

I opened my eyes. Rachel was lying next to me, her finger stroking my face. Her eyes were dark around the edges, she had been crying. Rachel opened her eyes and looked at my face.

I half expected fury, but instead she hugged me tightly. If I was a human, she probably would have suffocated me by now. Her arms constricted around my body, and then she tangled her legs around mine. She was clamping us together.

"Rachel…" Was all I managed to say, until she shoved her mouth into mine. And then she stopped moving.

I felt ridiculous, Rachel was on top of me like a prison, her arms strangling my chest and back, while her legs constricted my legs, and then her mouth forcefully kissed mine so I wouldn't talk.

I pushed against her, attempting to break free of her hold. She gripped tighter.

And then I changed my strategy, her eyes were closed so she couldn't see anything; I attempted to grab the side of the bed to pull myself away. She felt my moving arm and instantly grabbed it back.

Alright then, how about I seduce her then? I started to kiss her back. Rachel surprised yet happy for my decision started to soften her grip on me. I used my arms to slowly free themselves and then push her away. All this time, I kept kissing her so she stayed infatuated.

I jumped off the bed and landed with a thump on the floor. Rachel stared after me. I turned and looked back at her as I sat on the cold wood floor of the apartment.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" She looked like she had done something wrong, and was guilty of it.

I glared at her. She glared back.

"I missed you,"  
"I missed you too,"

She smiled, "I missed you more."

Rachel turned over and posed on the bed for me. A gesture which invited me to come back onto the bed.

"If we were humans, this would look sick," fourteen years olds seducing each other, right.

"Yes but we aren't humans, dear Lucius, we're vampires."

She grinned at my defiance, but it wouldn't last long. Eventually she'll lose her patience, go on a rampage, and probably assault me in the mean time.

"Come back to bed, it's too early to be up."

The four am subway rumbled nearby.

I stood up, I realised at that moment I was half naked. Rachel smiled at me innocently; my shirt was on the other side of the room.

I observed her for a moment, and she stared at my eyes back.

"Bed, now." It sounded like a demand.

I moved back instead, wrong move. Rachel sprung up from the bed and charged towards me. Her face carried an angry expression.

I stood my ground.

"Look Lucius, let me put it this way, you left me once, and how I've found you again. If I ever lose you again, I will probably kill myself. And if that doesn't work, then I'm going to tie you up and personally keep you like a toy." She tried to add humour to her threat. "So are you going to be stubborn again or are you going to come over here?"

I acted like I was thinking. "Hmm…I'm going to be stubborn."

Rachel didn't return the humour, she glared at me. Her eyes portraying fury. She took a few steps forward. I walked sideways, and jumped forward as she attempted to tackle me down. She missed and instead hit the floor denting a small hole. I picked myself up and took the opportunity to run. I smashed into the door, and broke it down. I was away.

"Lucius!" Rachel screamed inside the room. This was torture for her, this was freedom for me. I ran up the stairs, she would catch me by foot if I ran. But by air, I was the fastest bird in the sky.

I reached the roof and sprinted to the edge; Rachel appeared behind me and ran to catch up. I jumped, and fell.

I heard a scream of terror behind me. I then glided up and raced through the buildings, careful not to hit anything glass.

Rachel was soon behind me, flying as fast as she could. But she wasn't fast enough. I was out of her sight in a few minutes.

I could still hear her cursing and sobbing from the other side of the city.

I later landed in the ocean. From there I swam to the city outskirts. I climbed into a suburb and hid in a new park. This wasn't a familiar area. It was around lunchtime. I waited till the darkness of the afternoon took over.

It was unusual for a boy to walk in the dark night all alone. Especially in the ravages of a metropolis city. Lots of things could find you, things that should stay hidden. Your nightmares brought to life or new ones to corrupt your mind.

I choose one of the tallest buildings in New York, the New York Times Tower. Rolfus was next in line. And the most powerful and probably pissed of them all.

He was my leader and figure father, and I had run away from him.

I waited in the surpassing darkness for my next vampire encounter. I could feel the starting droplets of rain splinter on my face. The sea salt in my hair started to dissipate into my clothes.

"There's another girl isn't there?" Wrong person. I sighed; she wasn't going to give up, ever.

"Rachel, where's Rolfus?"

She looked depressed now, her head was hung low and it was evident she had been crying more.

"He's not here yet."

She looked up at me, something within reach for her; I was something she needed badly. Yet she didn't come any closer.

"Who is she?"

"Rachel, there's no one."

"Yes there is, what is her name?" Rachel managed to stay calm. This girl was crazy; her life was centred around me. I had gotten over her a long time ago, well at least tried to, but maybe that was because of her inhumanity. She had nothing to use against me, except that I abandoned her. I had her murderous habits and bloodthirsty habits.

Rachel was going crazy, she loved me. More than I had ever thought before. It was only in times of crisis did our true feelings really show themselves. It was evident in the past. She would kill for me, she would die for me. I was something worth living for and something worth dying for. And it was in that moment, that I realised I would do the exact same thing for her. Why was I running from someone I loved? She only wanted me to be with her again.

I walked towards her; she noticed my movement and looked cautiously at me. A large gust of wind threatened to blow us off the tower.

I placed my hand around her face, and separated any lines between us. Rachel surrendered herself to me. And for a few moments we were one. Then Rachel broke our kiss and looked at me.

"Where does she live?"

"Rachel…" Now she was the one annoying me.

"I can be the only one," she shook her head, "I won't hurt her, I just want to talk to her."

Yeah, and scar Aleah for life. If Aleah mentioned our last experience, I doubt Rachel would control herself. Besides there would be less competition for me then.

"I will find her,"

"No you won't."

"Yes I will," Rachel kissed me suddenly again and then flew off into the gloomy night. The race had just begun. Rachel knew from the start there was another girl involved. Aleah's scent was all over me and my clothes. Rachel would search every single household in New York to find that scent. She would find it very quickly.

I had to beat her to Aleah; I had to protect the human girl.


	8. Rescue

Chapter 8: Rescue

I stopped outside Aleah's house. I could hear her parents talking in the kitchen from my perching spot. A drizzle of rain started to fall on the city. A bolt lightening struck in the darkest sky. Thunder boomed a few minutes later. Aleah's parents sounded worried, something was horribly wrong with the girl.

"She's depressed,"

"I know, what's wrong with her? She was so happy a few days ago."

"I think…there's a boy involved." Her mother acted like she understood Aleah's pain.

"Oh," is what all the father could say.

"This might be her first time for her, it must hurt a lot."

Aleah wasn't taking her rejection very well. She was a growing girl, hitting her most emotional part of life so far. The aspect of me was something to cry over. I had that impact on girls, Rachel was my other proof.

I moved to the other end of the building, to Aleah's room. I hung from the roof and looked into the window upside down. By now the rain had turned into a storm. My hair was dripping wet, and I didn't exactly have a shirt on because of Rachel.

I peered into the window; drops of water slid down the glass and formed larger drops. I tried a closer look, I couldn't hear her, and she wasn't saying anything. She was crying and moaning instead.

I tapped on the window, hoping I wouldn't smash the fragile material. The window blew open and Aleah dragged me inside. I fell onto her bed, and water followed me in like a waterfall. A large gust of wind entered and twirled around a lot of tissues in the room. Aleah slammed the window shut and sat on top of me. Her face was now drenched, the water and cold hid her past depression.

"What happened to you?"

"Huh? Besides getting drenched?"

"Why aren't you wearing a shirt you could get sick," her tears had stopped. I was distracting her from her melancholy.

"I err…lost it."

"You lost it." She repeated with a disapproving tone in her voice. She sounded like the mother I never had. And anyway, I was a vampire; I can't get sick.

"Yeah, something like that."

Aleah satisfied herself with that, and then looked around her own room. I half expected her to say something like "That's not good enough".

"Sorry about the water, and drenching your bed," I looked at the white bed I had fallen on. It was pretty damp now.

"That's alright," she smiled warmingly; "my room is already a mess from the tissues."

We stared around at the snow white pile of used tissues on the floor. The wind had blown it further around, and now other pieces of furniture were covered in tissues as well.

"Why are you here?"

"Well umm that's a long story."

"When does it start?"

"After when we…" I hesitated, trying to find the best word.

"Kissed," Aleah finished for me. She didn't find anything wrong with saying it; in fact she seemed proud of our little experience. She looked like she wanted to do it again.

"Yeah that, and well when I got back to my apartment, well my family was back." Aleah's eyes widened.

"The one that massacred a whole town?"

"Yeah, there's only one…"

Aleah nodded, "Why are they here?"

"They've come mainly for me."

She was silent. I don't think Aleah wanted me to leave any time soon.

"And well there's this girl, her name's Rachel. And she's like crazy and infatuated about me, and well she somehow found out about you, and she doesn't like that. So she's trying to find you, and she's…very dangerous." I continued telling my situation to Aleah.

"She's jealous."

"I guess you could put it that way,"

"There's an awful lot of the story you're missing there," She wanted to know more. But she still smiled at the idea of Rachel being jealous of her.

"That stuff isn't important right now. Right now, I have to get you somewhere safe."

Aleah looked surprised, but still happy at the thought of having me around.

"What about my family? Will Rachel hurt them?"

"No, she's just looking for you."

"Where will we go? Where would be safe from a vampire?"

"My apartment…"

Aleah started to giggle loudly, a large difference from her sadness. Sure, it was a bad enough place from the outside, but at least I knew the area well and I could easily detect and defend from any intruders there.

"Quiet, your parents will hear you."

"They'll be happy I'm at least not crying."

"Fine. But we have to go, now."

"Do I need anything?"

"Just some clothes, I'll provide food if we need to stay that long."

"Alright, what do I tell my parents?"

"Don't tell them anything, I'll leave a fake note which will look like some gang kidnapped you."

Aleah considered our plan; she started packing clothes as she thought. I quickly wrote a primitive note on her table. I guess the idea of deceiving her parents didn't bother Aleah much.

"Alright I'll do it, but," Aleah stood up from her bag. Does there have to be a but? "Only on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You have to kiss me," She smirked at me, please, anything but that.

"Aleah, this isn't a game. Your life is in danger."

"I know, and I want you to kiss me. It'll make me feel better, and if I do die for any reason, at least I'll die happy." It was good she enunciated on the 'if'.

I glared at the girl; she gave some good reasons, but reasons that were unlikely to happen. Aleah was a human, and she was a talented human. In stalking me. I shouldn't keep encouraging her like this. I should just grab her and run.

But I still kissed her. Some inner desire forced me to in the end. Aleah returned the kisses, and then pushed me down on her bed. She hugged me tightly, almost like the way Rachel did. After a few minutes, I realised we had wasted time.

I pushed her up and caught Aleah's hand. The next thing she knew, we were flying through the freezing rain towards my home.

I stepped inside the room first. I checked everything and then pulled Aleah in. it looked safe enough. I was looking for the wrong things though. How could have I had missed Caraos standing near by?

He stepped forward through the shadows. Aleah jumped by his sudden appearance.

"Humans?" He sounded puzzled; he had a right to be.

"Yeah…it's complicated, and not humans, just one human."

"Rachel will kill you if she finds out, or actually she'll kill her." He nodded at Aleah. Aleah cringed at the familiar name. She held my hand tighter now.

"Yeah I know," I sighed, "She's already trying to hunt her down."

Caraos smiled, "You always were an amusing vampire." I didn't know what he meant by that comment.

He looked out the window. "Rolfus is here, he's waiting for you outside. He wants to meet you alone." I shuddered, finally Rolfus arrived.

"Who's Rolfus?" Aleah looked between Caraos and me.

"Our coven leader,"

"Oh," was all she said. She knew it meant something bad. I assumed she knew what 'coven' meant. It sounded like something for a vampire, almost like how coffin did.

I turned to Caraos. "Rachel will come here eventually," he nodded and looked with interested eyes at Aleah. "I need you to protect Aleah."

Caraos looked back at me with a serious face. "That's a lot your asking."

"If not for me, then do it for Rachel."

He stared into the darkness. He seemed to think for a long time. "I'll try."

"You'll do more than try."

He smiled at me, "Lucius, one of the things I'd never had and you seem to have all the time… is love. I know it's special, I know it's something worth dying for these days. If Rachel comes here, I'll try to talk her out of it first, she doesn't then I'll try to disable her. That's as far as I'll go though to hurt her." He shook his head. "She might not hold herself back as well though. I will die protecting Aleah, you have my word. I might as well do something useful these days."

I nodded at Caraos, and turned to Aleah. She look frightened, she had been very brave so far. Her eyes sparkled in the dim lights outside my room. She stared at mine back.

"I have to go, you can trust Caraos," I kissed her on the cheek, "Be careful of what you say, to anyone. I love you." Those last words rung like a bell in my head. I hadn't exactly expected myself to say that. Love was not something a girl so young would entirely understand. But then again stories like Romeo and Juliet proved otherwise.

I stood up tall, and picked up my blade from under the bed. I gathered my black assassin clothes and put them over my current pants and bare chest.

"Where?" I asked plainly.

"The World Financial Centre, Lower Manhattan."

I sprinted and jumped through the window, smashing a hole. It ends here.


	9. Rolfus

Chapter 9: Rolfus

_A grenade exploded near us. It shattered our hearing for a few moments. I could hear nothing in those few seconds of mute. __My hearing came back eventually. And the sharp shots of gun fire dominated my mind again._

_Rachel gripped my arm tightly next to me. I yelled at Rolfus. My words drowned in the loud noises._

_Rolfus had gotten us stuck in this mess. He should get us out._

_Vorec fumbled with his rifle and shot blindly over our cover. He had no idea how to use a gun; none of us did, except the more modernised Rolfus._

_Rolfus jumped over the sandbags protecting us from the bullets to our side._

"_Gomez sure knows how to fight bad," he commented and smiled at us reassuringly. "Don't worry we'll get out of this, unscathed and in one piece."_

_Gomez was another of Rolfus' rivals in the war for the outlaw underworld. Except this rival, decided to end the matter with gunpowder and steel in the middle of a war camp._

_Rolfus picked up a gun and shot down three times. Three enemy guns stopped firing. He smiled at us to prove his point._

_He handed me the gun and then rummaged through his pockets for something. Out came a grenade._

"_You keep one of those in there?!" Rachel screamed at Rolfus, an unbelieving look on her face. _

_He grinned, "I found one on the ground on my way here."_

_He threw it towards the source of some bullet shots, inside a wooden shack. It exploded the whole thing and a few screams erupted inside. The small structure collapsed._

"_See that large building?" Rolfus pointed at the barracks nearby. "Gomez is holed in there, I need someone to help me take him out." He turned to look at me, "Lucius?"_

"_Lucius isn't going anywhere__." Rachel stated._

"_Besides, I'm a pacifist, and you know that." I supported Rachel's argument. I had no intention of assassinating a champion outlaw._

"_Yes, well," Rolfus leaned back against the sandbags, "I reckon the boy needs some experience."_

_Rachel shook her head no, and gripped my arm tighter._

_Vorec fell backwards, "I'm out of ammo, and they seem to have unlimited supply of it."_

"_If Lucius doesn't come with me, we're going to be incinerated here."_

_Rachel grimaced at his offer. "Why can't Vorec go?" I asked._

"_Vorec needs to protect this lot, I need you to follow me and help." He indicated the rest of our vampire clan._

_I looked at Rachel; she was shaking with her hand around mine. If I didn't go, she wouldn't be shaking for much longer._

"_Alright I'll go."_

_Rachel stared at me helplessly, her arm gripped to a point were her nails bit into my skin. _

"_I'll be back, I promise." I leaned in and kissed her on the lips. The kiss distracted her for a moment, and she loosened her hold on me. I crouched up and Rolfus signalled to follow where he walked._

_We ran quickly into the barracks building. A bit too quickly, it surprised some of the outdoor shooters. The building was only two storeys high, with Gomez on the second floor. The building also was a hospital; a certain room here was crowded with wounded humans._

_In terms of security, the pathway we took to Gomez's room was empty. Probably all the militia were outside or dead. We stealthed outside his room, and spied through the door to Gomez's room. Gomez had two guards, a pile of unused bullets nearby, and a hell lot of oil. Explosive weapons near explosive liquid._

_Rolfus barged through the door and tackled Gomez with gouging hands. Gomez didn't scream, it was one of his morals to stay silent in the face of death. His guards on the other hand did scream. One fired aimlessly, another dropped his gun and yelled at the top of his voice in Spanish._

_I dashed to the man with the gun, knocked the weapon out of his hand, and jabbed his neck. He fell unconscious. Rolfus was still devouring the silent Gomez._

_The last man standing looked at me, only fear was shown on his face, his moustache following down his frowning expression._

_He withdrew a vial from his tanned cloak, and threw the glass bottle at me, it smashed delicately against my body._

_All of a sudden, __I couldn't move. It was a paralytic poison. Out of all the smartest gangsters in this state, I had to fight the one that studied alchemy._

_The man didn't waste any time. He opened a grenade and a plonked it on the ground next to him. What was the point of that?_

_Behind the man were barrels of flammable liquid. The grenade detonated._

_I was unable to move, and the blast shook me around. It tore the whole floor down, onto the one below. It ripped apart the walls and ceiling, I fell one storey below, unscathed but the blast wasn't my problem._

_The fire was._

_The wooden barracks burst into flames, more barrels of oil exploded bringing more destruction into the burning chaos. I couldn't see or hear Rolfus in the blinding flashes of fire._

_I landed on a hard dirt floor surface, and opened my eyes, the only part of my body I was able to move. The rest was frozen solid. _

_Fire burned the structure around me. It would reach me soon, and turn my life into ashes. Fire was one of the things that could kill a vampire. The one thing that threatened my life right now._

_I was helpless, dying in my own blazing coffin. Rachel thought I was safe, Rolfus might have thought I was outside._

_I was alone, the heat got closer. It stung my exposed skin badly._

_And then Rolfus landed from above next to me. He smiled and then turned to face something to his left. I couldn't turn my head, but I could smell a human there. It was a young human, must be wounded considering his disability to escape the fire._

_Run away, I screamed in my head. Why are you still here?_

_Rolfus walked towards the boy, despite the flames itching him irritably. He swiped out with his deadly hands, it sounded like he hit nothing. A collapsing body fell next to mine._

_It was cruel what he had just done, yet it was necessary – no witnesses._

"_We'll be burned alive here, what are you doing? Get up."_

_I attempted to speak, but the mouth wouldn't move._

_Rolfus twitched his head at me, "Right, someone stunned you." Close enough I guess._

_He leaned close and whispered, "I made you a promise, and I won't leave you behind. Even if we both burn together, I don't intend to lose my number one vampire knight." He used that term to relate to the way I fought with honour, even when arguing. He also called me that because of my moral not to kill humans. It was one my nicknames, which anyone but Rolfus rarely used._

_Rolfus dragged me onto his shoulder and sailed through the flames. As he lifted me, I saw the body of a small boy lying lifeless on the ground. His feet were scorched as the fire began to burn his body; in his arms were crutches and a white head band tied around his skull. I almost screamed in horror if it weren't for my incapable mouth. The boy was my age; he looked like me in a way._

_Rolfus trampled through the burning wreckage until we broke out from the rising flames and dark smoke. The rest of Gomez's men had disappeared._

_Rachel ran out from the shadow of her cover and grabbed me down. _

"_What's wrong with him?"_

"_He's paralysed completely; one of the humans used something new on him."_

_Rachel hugged me, sobbing slowly on my arm. It was embarrassing in a way. But I also realised Rolfus had saved my life, at the same time risking his own. He could have been trapped in there, but instead decided to bear my body as a burden and carry me to safety. He was our leader, it was his responsibility to keep us all safe. _

Rolfus stood on top of the tallest floor of the skyscraper. A populated road surrounded the whole building. It was midnight, and a storm brewed over us. The drizzle changed into a torrent. A streak of light flashed in the sky, and the wind grew deadly stronger.

I drew my blade.

My black cape flowed uncontrollably behind me in the hurricane wind. I smoothened my hair back, to avoid any distractions and stepped forward slowly.

Rolfus turned to face me. I couldn't see his face in the darkness. The moonlight was covered by storm clouds.

I could still hear him though. "Why did you leave?" His hoarse voice echoed through the stormy air. It's the same question every time from almost everyone.

"You know exactly why I left."

"That wasn't the reason you left."

"Yes it was," I was confused, I left exactly because of that event.

"We're all vampires, you know what you are and what we are." Lightening lit his face up for a split second. "We had killed mercilessly before. You didn't act such recklessly then, so why now?"

"They weren't as bad as that time."

"But they were all the same Lucius, and you know that. We killed, we murdered, you endured, because you were different." He darkened his voice. "But you aren't any different from us."

I tightened the sword. He was provoking me, I wasn't a cold blooded killer.

"Where did you get that sword? It belongs to Osvaldo Cruz," he explained for me, "The man you killed."

"He deserved to die, the whole of Cherry Spring didn't."

"They had it coming either way, that hole created criminals like Crespin and let them loose on our world. Our cruel world, ready for more bloodshed."

"The children…"

"The children would soon as well turn into outlaws, thugs, people with no morals, no honour, no humanity or empathy for another being. They would turn out to be as bad as us, just humans though, even more reckless."

It was useless arguing against him, he believed in the end, everyone eventually deserved to die. Even he himself believed that the day he died, he would deserve the loss. He once quoted a group of monks which had burnt alive some vampire friends, "If you hadn't committed any sins, God wouldn't have sent me to punish you." A line Genghis Khan used on his victims. He was a leader, a murderer, a conqueror, like Rolfus was to us.

"Do you remember Felix's wedding?" He broke my concentration. So did the screams of some old women, as they noticed a young boy and an old man standing on top of a skyscraper with weapons ready at hand. They screamed from a far distance, they could only see our shadows from their tower. But soon, more people would see and witness.

I looked into the face of my commander, my father. An unnatural light shown towards him, hiding one half of his face.

_Felix's wedding wasn't__ really for Felix himself. It was actually for his son. Felix was one of the few allies of Rolfus. He had been witness to the type of damage our clan could achieve, and decided he had better join the stronger group for his own safety. The wedding of his son was a gesture of this brittle friendship._

_But behind those kind smiles and generous gifts of respect, lay a treacherous mind. Felix did not trust any of us; he would backstab any of us if he got the chance. Rolfus knew about this, he had this habit of knowing things people thought about a lot by looking at the way people looked, and how their eyes moved. And he also interrogated one of Felix's nobles to make sure._

_This was a big move for our family. We hadn't killed this many people before. But it was all planned out, and the destination was perfect. A solitary chapel in the desert, and a long four hours drive from any other civilization._

_Vorec would snipe down anyone from the bell tower. The chapel was big, and the main plan was not to kill just for blood, but to be efficient and strike down everyone in Felix's gang or family. Inadyn would slaughter people in the main courtyard; most people would be loitering around that area. Caraos and Rolfus would personally take down Felix and his crew, whilst later cleaning up any stranglers hiding in rooms. Madison stayed home to guard our house._

_Rachel would stand guard out in the desert, watching for anyone attempting to escape through the desert. Even though the odds were low for anyone surviving in the scarce environment, she needed to make sure no one got away. Me, I had to occupy the bride, she wasn't part of the family, yet, and her family didn't turn up at all to the wedding. We had misled the bride's family to a fake address far away. The family didn't deserve to be part of the bloodshed._

_It was nearly time, I sat with the bride in a separate room, purposely built soundproof usually for sinners to ask for redemption. She chattered on about some topic which I had no idea what it was about. It made me dizzy if I listened too long to her._

_And then screams echoed outside, some guns flashed violently and a few war cries were vowed as the battle ensued outside the room. The bride couldn't hear it, but I could._

_She turned from her mirror and looked at me, her rosy blonde hair hidden by a white veil and a lot of make up used to hide any unwanted irregulations on her face. She muttered something under her breath and stood up._

_I probably could have heard her if I'd tried, and it would have made more sense if I did. She sat down next to me, on the velvet bench and pressed her lips against mine. I froze still, wasn't she about to get married? Or thought she was anyway. She was about to sacrifice her life to a man, and decides to make out with me on the last few minutes. Maybe she was taking advantage of her singleness for the last time._

_This wasn't a good position to be in. My family was supposed to act fast, and if Rachel found me like this, she would get really pissed._

_Felix's son's fiancée didn't stop. I tried to push away but she just held me still. _

_The worst happened; I grimaced as Rachel walked through the door. I had heard her walking here, but had failed to act fast enough. Rachel stepped in and glared at the bride._

_The young women looked up at Rachel; she obviously didn't know she was my girlfriend. Rachel calmly walked over to me, grabbed my hand and pulled my away. The woman gasped in disappointment._

_Rachel glared into my eyes; she was always over protective over me. Something about her claiming ownership over me._

"_She started it," I tried to look innocent and 'cute' and she sometimes put it._

"_Very funny smart ass, I'll deal with you later." That usually meant tying me up and talking about pointless girl issues. Her form of punishment on me. Immortality and never falling asleep had its downsides._

_Rachel walked back into the room with the bride. I heard a loud shrieking scream and Rachel walked back out covered in the bride's blood._

"_You," she pointed at me, stabbing my chest, "belong to me. Remember that next time."_

"_Girls…" I rolled my eyes as she walked away, I knew she heard me. I also could hear Caraos howling uncontrollably in another room. At least someone had found humour in that._

_I turned to the courtyard, Inadyn sat on the fountain in the centre. The water was pure red, and still spouted blood from its features. The courtyard on the other hand, was a real mess. Almost around fifty people were lying dead on the ground, in one corner Inadyn had pilled up a small family. Blood was stained everywhere, it looked like a scene from a horror movie. We were the monsters._

_The flies started to move in, coming with the wind into the chapel. Rolfus arrived from a room, the priest and his alter servers dead inside. Everyone had been slain, even the bride who according to plan was supposed to survive. Her death was my fault in a way, but then again mostly Rachel's._

_We had massacred a whole family, right before a wedding. That's how our family dealt with traitorous allies. That's how cruel we could be._


	10. The Fall

Chapter 10: The Fall

"Felix's wedding was different…"

"Why? Because you were distracted by the bride?"

I tensed, with my weapon, and my legs shifted to an attacking stance. I was about to say there weren't the same amount of people.

"One death, two deaths does it really matter? What makes one person's life different from another when you have to choose?" He had been ready for my argument.

"We had a choice whether to end theirs or not."

"Fate brought them to us; Felix brought himself to be involved with us. They all choose themselves whether they would deal with the most dangerous clan in the state."

"They didn't know who or what we were,"

"Not everyone knows every danger."

I glared at him, he knows what I meant. I moved forward, my blade still out, the rain was dripping down the sharp steel weapon. Another flash of the storm and the growl of a louder thunder.

"What are you going to do? Kill me? See you aren't very different from us. You are a vampire."

I stopped from moving to him; I was close to another edge. If I looked down, I could have seen the street below, covered in the human vehicles and various city people.

"You hurt Rachel, hurt her bad. She loves you, can't you see that?"

I turned my left leg backwards, so I stood on my side to Rolfus.

"I'll give you a choice, either join us, come back to family and be the vampire you are. Or I'll have to kill you. Our family can't live knowing you are out there, all alone. Rachel won't live in despair and depression if you are dead, she will mostly kill herself unfortunately."

He was going to kill me. How did I miss that one?

"You want me dead."

"I don't want you dead, just would you rather if I killed you or someone else?"

I'd rather if I didn't die at all. Did Cruz want to die as well? A heretical thought strung in my head. No one wanted to die.

But it was part of the life cycle. As a vampire, we shortened it for our victims, the humans. Most humans thought they were at the top of the food chain – those were the survivors in this cruel world. We hunted them down, we nourished on their pain. Like how they ate cows and chickens.

We were shadow of a creation, an abomination to peace and serenity. The world feared us as a myth. Vampires and blood, it was who we were.

But I was different. The deaths of humans wailed inside my head, their screaming a live nightmare. I choose not to kill, I vowed the day I changed into a monster.

I was a vampire knight, one with honour, a code to live for. And a promise to die for. No more humans would die by my hand for the purpose of food and pleasure.

The back of my heels were held out in the air. The drop behind me. A large wind threatened to blow me away, but I held on, a little whole longer.

Rolfus knew what I was going to do. "Lucius!" He hissed. I smiled back at my father.

I let go, and backwards down the skyscraper I fell. Rolfus wouldn't be fast enough to catch me, and he wouldn't risk the chance that someone would see him flying so close to the building. The lights sirened past me and my cloak ripped in the rush of air. It was too dark for anyone to see the shadowy figure falling, but they would see my landing. In the middle of the street, surrounded by humans.

The ground grew larger. I closed my eyes. I would rather die than break my promise.

"Please come back."

End of the first book: The Renegade


End file.
